I Can See You
by Moretta
Summary: Set during the Final Battle in book 7. Pansy shouldn't be there, but she has to see him, protect him one last time. She knows him better than he thinks. Pansy's POV. You'll never know if you don't try.


**No, I'm not the Rowling goddess. Otherwise I would not be surviving on a pound at the moment.**

**Just because I haven't posted anything in a long while and this came to me. Don't forget to review! As usual. ;)**

**Love,**

**Moretta**

I can see you.

I'm not supposed to be here, I know I'm not, but I couldn't leave without seeing you again, just once, without helping you, without being your guardian for the last time.

Please don't hate me for this, at least not more than you already do.

I can see you, in the shadows, where no one else would think to look, but I know you too well, have watched you practise, I know your every move, can see what you'll do a split second before you do it.

You're going to get into trouble. And that's why I'm here.

My father ordered me to go home, to stay put, but I couldn't leave you in the middle of a battle.

Draco, I know you too well. You'll want a piece of the glory, you'll want to uphold the Malfoy name, you'll want to be part of the action, not sit at home as we all have been told to.

Except for you. Your father always was a favourite, and that's the only reason behind your initiation.

That's the only reason you're there, here, lurking in the darkness of the corridors, with me barely 10 feet away, once again your shadow.

You inch forward, and I hold my breath.

You don't dislike me, but I am just a friend. One of many. I was one of the only people your father allowed at the Manor, and it is better to have company than to be alone all your life.

No, there was a time where you liked me. Liked me properly, liked me back as a real friend. We were children, young, innocent, so long ago now, and we were friends. And then came the boys. You stopped playing with me, because I was a girl.

I resented you for that. I made new friends too, but in my heart of hearts I knew you were pushing me aside and it hurt.

You kept on playing with the boys, didn't you, Draco? Only now, playing is a much more serious offence.

Everybody thought we were engaged. I never said anything, but neither did you.

Another few inches.

I suppose it was a convenient rumour for you. It gave you freedom. People who are engaged or married are never as closely scrutinised as the people who aren't.

At least most aren't. But you revel in attention, don't you?

What's the saying? Any publicity is good publicity.

You certainly took that to heart. You had what the tabloids liked to call "trysts" and I was certainly not involved. The only thing that consoled me at the time was that you had to have some sort of heart to be able to do this. Then I discovered that it was possible to be like you and not have a heart.

To be you and not have a heart.

I don't know if your parents wrote to you about it, but soon after these facts had been made public, you made more of an effort to hide them and no more were found out.

But we all knew they were going on.

Oh, Draco, you'll never understand. I don't think I will either.

I don't know why I'm here. I promised myself I would protect you after what happened last year, but this might be going a bit far, tailing you at this particular moment in time.

After all, I don't know what you're doing.

I can still see you, you've just crouched down. The hood of your robes has gone up, I assume to hide your very much recognisable hair.

I crouch too.

Granger and Weasley rush by and stop by a tapestry, arguing. She sees me move, and a flicker of recognition comes to her eyes, but she keeps her mouth shut.

I look at her pleadingly, and I glance at you. You're looking warily at Weasley.

Granger looks sharply to her right and left, pretending to be checking the corridor. I know she's seen you.

She gives an almost imperceptible nod and raises an eyebrow at me.

When Weasley asks what's wrong, she just mutters something about Prefects.

I smile. She's not so bad, even if she is Muggleborn.

Draco, you're definitely not as good at this as you would like to be. You still haven't noticed I'm here behind you.

Weasley and Granger walk off and you breathe a sigh of relief and move on.

I know where we're headed now. The Room of Requirement.

Crabbe and Goyle are there. They're waiting for you.

Damn.

I can't do anything now. They're much more observant than they show.

Draco, I'll leave you with them. If anything happens to you, I'll kill you.

Stupid boy. All I wanted was a little bit of attention.

You gave me what I wanted I suppose. You took me to the Yule Ball. We even kissed afterwards, though it was awkward for the both of us, with childhood memories coming out of nowhere and popping up in front of our eyes.

Never again, we said.

You thought I loved you.

I do.

But as a brother. You don't know it was me who took care of you, or corrected bits of your essays, or gave Crabbe and Goyle sandwiches for you when you refused to come out of your room that time.

You think I'm just pug-faced Pansy Parkinson, the girl with a crush on you. How wrong you are.

I'm older than you. By just over 3 months, but I take my responsibility seriously. I'm your older sister. And because of that I have to protect you. I used to call you 'baby'. Do you remember that?

You hated that nickname. But I was adamant. You were my baby, the little one, and I took care of you. It's not as if your overly elegant mother would have. Or so I thought at the time.

But I couldn't stand it if you got hurt. So be careful, baby. I'll see you when you get out.


End file.
